Environmentally degradable compositions exposed to actinic or ionizing radiation and process
AssigneeUnion Carbide Corporation
InventorsJames Edward Potts, Stephen Watson Cornell, Albert Martin Sracic
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An environmentally degradable polymer based composition which has been exposed to actinic or ionizing radiation and which comprises an ethylene polymer base resin, and a synergistic combination of an auto-oxidative polymer or low molecular weight organic compound, certain polyvalent metal salts, and an antioxidant additive for the ethylene polymer; and a process for making such composition.
Claims43
An environmentally degradable polymer based composition which has been subject to actinic or ionizing radiation and which comprises,
- based on the total weight of said composition, a
- major portion by weight of ethylene polymer as the base resin,
- about 0.01 to about 40 percent by weight of at least one auto-oxidative susceptible additive having at least one hydrogen atom bonded to a carbon atom having an auto-oxidative susceptibility greater than that of a hydrogen atom bonded to a normal secondary carbon atom,
- at least one salt of at least one polyvalent metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc and cerium, in such amounts as to provide about 0.002 to about 2.0 percent by weight of the metal atom, and
- about 0.0025 to about 1 percent by weight of antioxidant for said ethylene polymer,
- said amount of radiation being such as to increase the rate of degradation of such composition, as compared to the rate of degradation of the non-irradiated composition, without interfering with the intended utility of such composition.
A method for accelerating the degradation under exposure to actinic or ionizing radiation of ethylene polymer which comprises
- adding to said ethylene polymer prior to said exposure
- about 0.01 to 40 weight percent of at least one auto-oxidative susceptible additive having at least one hydrogen atom bonded to a carbon atom having an autooxidative susceptibility greater than that of a hydrogen atom bonded to a normal secondary carbon atom, and
- about 0.002 to 2.0 weight percent of at least one polyvalent metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc and cerium, said metal being present in the form of at least one salt thereof,
- said weight percents being based on the total weight of the resulting composition, and
- exposing the resulting composition to actinic or ionizing radiation in such dosage thereof as to increase the rate of degradation of such composition, as compared to the rate of degradation of the non-irradiated composition, without interfering with the intended utility of such composition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.